The Model and the Baker's Boy
by Phantom Thief Fee
Summary: Part 2 of the request by Shiranai Atsune. Basically a oneshot for the kwami swap au. Adrien is the baker's boy next door and Ladybug. Marinette is a rich model and Chat Noir.


The whole class had been a bit wary of Marinette Dupain-Cheng when she'd shown up to join their class, especially when Chloé had run up and hugged her, greeting her like an old friend. People who were friends with Chloé weren't exactly the kind of people the rest of them wanted to hang around with. Sabrina was alright, sure, but she was such a doormat for Chloé. Some were excited because Marinette was a famous model. Everyone had seen her before in magazines. Adrien didn't really care, if he was being honest. He was pretty much over the Dupain-Chengs and their designs. He'd heard his father complain enough times about how Marinette modeled her mother's designs, and how incredible Sabine's work was and why hadn't he thought of something like that?

"Girl's bad news." Alya had whispered to Adrien. "We should stay away from her."

"I don't know. She seems okay." Adrien said, brushing some leftover flour out of his hair. Marinette was seated in front of him, next to Nino. He'd assumed she'd a self-absorbed brat like Chloé, but she seemed pretty polite and calm. He definitely was not holding his pencil a little tighter now, definitely not staring at the back of her head. Her hair was done up in a single tight bun.

"Do you have a pen?" Marinette turned around and whispered to him. "I forgot mine."

"Of course, my lady." Adrien winked and fumbled to get the pen out of his bag. As he handed it to her, she rolled her eyes while smiling. Their hands touched for a moment, she smiled, and that was it. Adrien Agreste was in love.

"Oooooh, someone's got a crush~" Alya grinned.

"Alya!" Adrien tried to hit her, but she ducked out of the way.

"Mister Agreste, Miss Cesaire, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Miss Bustier interrupted. The class erupted into quiet giggles as both Alya and Adrien went bright red, ducking their heads down. Even Marinette was laughing. Adrien didn't mind as long he could see her smile. She had such sad eyes.

"You should stay away from him." Chloé said rather loudly at lunch. "Adrien is just a clown. He's not good for anything."

"Well he had a pen, so that's good enough for me." Marinette sipped from her thermos, giving Chloé a cool stare. "I honestly don't understand why you hate him so much. He seems harmless." Even if he was over the top and a total nerd, she couldn't help but find him endearing. At the moment Adrien was trying to see how if he could balance an unopened juice can on his head, only for it to fall off and spray carbonated juice everywhere.

"He's just so...common." Chloé wrinkled her nose. "His dad's designs aren't even that good."

"Chloé, that's very rude." Marinette said.

"But it's true. They're just so lame." Just then Alya opened a can of juice behind the blond heiress. It had obviously been shaken up as it sprayed everywhere, especially on Chloé.

"Heard you were talking shit."

Chloé shrieked and rounded on Alya. "Who do you think you are?!"

"A girl with a can of juice." Alya said, folding her arms. "Who did you think I was?"

"Hey, guys!" Adrien was over there in seconds. "Don't start fighting!"

"She was talking shit about you!" Alya protested, waving the juice can angrily.

"She talks shit about everybody, Alya." Adrien said.

"But she said your dad's designs aren't good!" Adrien could normally take the shit Chloé dealt out, but when it came to his parents' work he couldn't lay down and take it. His parents loved what they did and Chloé had no right to insult their passions like that.

"Dude, she called my music ear torture last week." Nino stepped up, putting a hand on Adrien's shoulder. "Her opinion doesn't mean anything."

"How dare you?!" Chloé got ready to scream, but Marinette gave her a warning glance.

"Fine." Alya stomped back to where Nino was sitting. Adrien went with her, after a quick and slightly insincere apology to Chloé, who stormed off to get changed. Marinette couldn't help but admire how quickly he was able to defuse the situation. Normally it would take at least 30 minutes of Chloé throwing a hissy fit to remedy something as bad as ruined clothes and hair. Not so pathetic, after all. Still a goofball though, she decided. Especially when she saw him blowing bubbles with Nino. He was cute, in a puppies and kittens kind of way. She didn't mind when he came up and tried to impress her. It wasn't like with other boys. He was so cheesy and over the top that she found herself smiling every time. Of course, this meant she didn't take him at all seriously. But as long as she smiled, he didn't mind.

He walked home that day with a spring in his step. His house was about a ten-minute walk from the school, making it easy to get from school to home and vice versa. He could always smell home before he could see it. Adrien's mother owned a bakery, and next door was his father's boutique. Every day when he came home, Adrien would be greeted by the smell of fresh baked goodies as his mother took a new batch out of the oven in the back of the bakery. His father would always be next door working on new designs. Nathalie would be manning the tiny boutique and a lot of times Adrien would help out. Built character, his father said, all the while trying to get Adrien to just a teensy bit of modeling.

"How was your day?" Emilie Agreste asked as he son entered the bakery.

"It was good. We got a new student today." Adrien dropped his bag behind the counter and grabbed an apron. The bakery was short-staffed at the moment.

"Oh really?" Emilie put a tray of cookies down on the counter. "Is it Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Adrien nodded, starting to put the cookies into the display case. All of a sudden his father grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him up. Gabriel Agreste looked disheveled, indicating he'd been working on designs all day.

"I heard Marinette Dupain-Cheng enrolled in your class. Is it true?"

"Yes..." Adrien answered slowly. "Why are you asking?"

"Did you talk to her?"

"Yes..."

"Good. Make friends with her." Gabriel nodded solemnly.

"Dad, why do you suddenly care about my social life?" Adrien had a feeling he knew where this was going and hoped his father wasn't going to do what he thought he would.

"If you become friends with her, I can finally get my designs noticed by Sabine Cheng!" There it was.

"Gabriel." Emilie said, shaking her head.

"Not this again, dad." Gabriel had been trying to not so gently push him towards being friends with Marinette since Adrien had been little. Gabriel didn't exactly have the connections to walk up to Sabine Cheng and ask her to look at his designs, not to mention he was just as terrified of her as everyone else was, so using his child was an option. If Adrien put his foot down hard enough his father would have backed off, but Gabriel knew Adrien did have an interest in the Dupain-Cheng girl.

"You didn't even ask how his day was." Emilie separated her husband from her son. "Honestly, Gabriel, you should think of his needs."

"Oh, yes, you're right." Gabriel looked rather ashamed at this. "I'm sorry. It's been a long day. The clothes for the show aren't nearly as complete as they need to be and Sabine's show is next week and-"

"I get it, dad." Adrien went back to putting the cookies in the case.

"Do you want to be friends with her?" Emilie asked, leaning down next to him.

"...Yes."

"Then do it." She said. "Not for your father, but for you. I'm sure it would be nice for her to have someone treat her like a normal person."

"You really think so?"

"Yes, dear, I do." Emilie patted his head. "Now finished up with those cookies. I need some help frosting the cake for Mrs. Cesaire's birthday."

"Okay mom." Adrien said, smiling.

.

.

Getting their Miraculouses had been...interesting. It had been a dream come true for Marinette, a way for her to live without having to worry about how it would affect her mother's reputation. For Adrien, it was a chance to finally be taken seriously. They'd met on a rooftop, Chat Noir and Ladybug.

"I guess we're going to be working together." Ladybug said, extending his hand. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Ladybug."

"Chat Noire." She replied, shaking his hand and giggling nervously. "You know, Ladybug is kind of a weird name for a guy superhero."

Ladybug flushed. "I couldn't think of anything else to call myself, okay?" He said, folding his arms and avoiding looking at her.

"Okay." Chat giggled again. "You're, um, kinda cute when you're flustered."

"Thanks." He forced himself to smile. "I like your ears and tail."

"Oh thank you!" She did a twirl. "I wasn't really sure about them at first. I'm not allowed to have cats because my mom's allergic and I didn't know if I suddenly became half-cat or what."

"At least you're not a bird." He said. "We wouldn't be able to work together then."

"Are you allergic to birds?"

"Unfortunately. Pigeons are my least favorite animal."

"I saw a pigeon eat a battery once." She blurted out, then covered her mouth. "That was so weird. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." He assured her. "I once saw one try to eat a pen. They'll eat anything." He laughed and she was in love.

After that, transforming became an eagerly awaited event. It was so freeing, and she got to work with Ladybug, who was one of the coolest and kindest boys she'd ever met. He was always there for her, never letting her put herself down for making mistakes or not being able to live up to the unattainable peak she had in her mind. It was as though he knew exactly what made her insecure and was there to try and remedy it. Even if she wasn't as good with her staff as he was with his yoyo, they still made an amazing team. They had yet to let an akuma get away, except for that first time. But they'd been learning then. By now they were practiced masters, although keeping their identities a secret was as difficult as always. Marinette especially struggled with it due to how many parties her mother threw. There were always people around the house, making it hard to slip away unnoticed. Out of everyone though, only Nino found out. He discovered her secret fairly soon after her career had begun. It hadn't been anything she could have prevented. Nino had been visiting the house to drop off homework just as she'd been transforming.

"Dude."

"OhmyGodNinoyoucan'ttellanyonepleasedon'tscreamorfreakout." She said without taking a single breath.

"Relax dude." Nino put her homework on her bed and gave her a big grin. "We're friends, we keep each other's secrets. But seriously, this is sick."

"It...It is pretty cool." She fiddled with her hair.

"I wish you'd told me sooner though." He said. "I attacked your birthday party!"

"Yeah, that was kind of awkward. Mom's friends were so freaked out." She couldn't help but laugh. "Um, I do kind of have to go right now. Maybe we can talk about this later?"

"Sure." He said, sitting down at the study table she had. "I can wait here until you come back."

"That would work great." She then jumped out the window. Sure enough he was still there when she returned, and for some reason the shower was running.

"Your mom came looking for you and I had to say you were in the shower." He explained.

"Good thinking."

Nino nodded, then his face split in a grin. "So you're Chat Noir! That's so awesome!"

"It really is." She sighed as she turned back and Plagg floated out of the ring. He made a big show of flopping down on the table.

"So...weak." He moaned. "Need...cheese."

"You're such a drama queen." Marinette dug in her desk drawer before withdrawing some camembert.

"Who's this little dude?" Nino asked, poking the kwami.

"That's Plagg. He gives me the power to become Chat Noire." Marinette explained. "I...I don't know how he does it honestly. He just does."

"Cool." Nino started rubbing Plagg's stomach with one finger. Somehow, the kwami began to purr.

Now that he knew, Nino became a sort of helper, covering every time she had to sneak away to transform and fight another akuma. The most common excuse they employed was a delicate stomach and/or feminine distress. The teachers, being mostly female, instantly understood and left her be.

"No girl has to go to the bathroom that much." Alya always whispered to Adrien, despite the fact that her friend did the same thing.

"Yeah, it's weird." Adrien laughed nervously. He didn't consider for an instant that Marinette might be his partner, not while he was trying to divert suspicion away from himself.

.

.

However, not everything was going perfectly for Marinette. As she spent more time on her superhero career, she spent less time than usual studying. That didn't mean she was slacking off by any means though. For once in her life, she wasn't dedicating all free time to school, that was all. It felt good to be able to be herself for a little while, to not have to worry about her responsibilities and schoolwork for a time. Sabine, however, was less than pleased with the results.

"A B?! You haven't been studying hard enough!" Sabine yelled. "I knew it was a bad idea to let you have a boyfriend! He's distracting you from your studies!"

"Mom, I told you Nino isn't my boyfriend!" Marinette was practically pleading. "He's just a friend! And he helps me study. I haven't been slacking off, I swear!"

"Go to your room. You need to study harder." Sabine said, pointing deliberately. Marinette didn't retaliate, looking down and going to her room.

"Are you really gonna let her talk to you like that, kid?" Plagg wiggled out of Marinette's bag. "You studied as hard as you could for that test."

"It's not worth it." Marinette said. "She's always been like this. Especially since dad disappeared. It's my fault anyway. I didn't do my best."

"Kid," Plagg floated up and held her face between his paws. "You did the best you could. You don't deserve to be treated like that. No one does." Marinette stared at him, trying to blink away the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes.

"You mean it?"

"I mean it."

She hugged the kwami to her chest. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad.


End file.
